Shimura Shinpachi
English: Mark X. Laskowski | divwidth= | floatalign= | floatclear= }} Shimura Shinpachi ( 志村新八 ) is a member of the Yorozuya, a samurai in training and one of the three main protagonists of Gintama. He is the more serious character of the series, delivering the requisite reality-checks or punchlines against other characters farcical antics. Other than working at the Yorozuya, Shinpachi is also the leader of Terakado Tsuu's fanclub: Terakado Tsuu's Imperial Guards, and is very serious about it. Background Shimura Shinpachi grew up with his sister Shimura Tae and his father in their family dojou Koudoukan. Their father died when they were young, leaving them to take care of the dojou, and also in debt.Sorachi Hideaki. Gintama. VIZ media, Vol. 1, Lesson 1, p. 27. Shinpachi befriended Takachin in his local temple school. When Takachin bullied by other childrens, Shinpachi tried to help but ended getting beaten up as well until Otae saved them. They were close friends until Takachin accidently soiled himself while Shinpachi pretended sleeping to avoid helping Takachin. Shinpachi would later acquainted with Yagyuu Kyuubei due to his sister friendship with her. When the debt collectors tried to harm Tae and her brother, Shinpachi was knocked out as Kyuubei tried to rescue them, though it cost her her left eye. Shinpachi mentioned that he ate his sister's cooking when he was young, which made his eyesight go bad. While working at café and being beaten by the manager behind the shop, Shinpachi encountered Terakado Tsuu street performance. Although he didn't understood her singing but he was emotionally moved. Given encouragement and motivation, Shinpachi would create Terakado Tsuu fanclub: Terakado Tsuu's Imperial Guards. Appearance *Height = 166 cm *Weight = 55 kg Shinpachi has black hair and brown eyes. He wears a light blue keikogi with blue linings and a blue hakama. Bespectacled, many other characters have pointed out that Shinpachi's glasses are his charm point. Sakata Gintoki even went as far as to say that Shinpachi's glasses make out 95% of him and that they are more Shinpachi than Shinpachi himself, with the rest being 3% water and 2% garbage. Sorachi Hideaki. Gintama. Shueisha, Vol. 24, Lesson 203, p. 17. Throughout the series he is seen wearing various disguises and has been shown in different styles for gags. Personality Frequently teased by Sakata Gintoki, supposedly his employer and later on, by Yagyuu Kyuubei for having a 'sister-complex' for being overly attached to his sister. Because he does not have as much physical strength as Kagura, he is often bullied by her, who often tend to literally give him a thrashing. He takes charge of all the household chores in the Yorozuya due to his 'inclination to care for other people ( as he explained during the Goukon in Episode 88 ).He also likes to save leftovers. All of the above, combined with his plain bespectacled look has made him the archetypical downtrodden nerdy character. Shinpachi is also a rabid fan of fictional pop-idol Terakado Tsuu, and often gets so moved by her songs that he starts crying listening to them. He is the strict leader of the Terakado Tsuu's Imperial Guards,a fan club with deep admiration and devotion to her, and has made 99 regulations that he makes sure the members loyally follow. Whenever someone breaks one of the rules and regulations of the fanclub, he personally issues their punishment with a flying nose-hook. Most of the time, the Sergeant is on the receiving end. Shinpachi also likes to sing, and has been seen singing karaoke-versions of various songs by Tsuu, but is completely tone-deaf.Sorachi Hideaki. Gintama. VIZ media, Vol. 4, Lesson 29, p. 6. Strength & Abilities He has limited dojo training, but inherited a dojo together with his older sister Shimura Tae called Koudoukan (恒道館), specialising in the Tendoumushin sword-fighting style (天堂無心流 - Tendou Mushin Ryuu). Although Shinpachi's fighting abilities are not as powerful as that of his two friends (Kagura with her monstrous Yato strength and Gintoki with his sword mastery), he has been shown to be able to fight with not only his sword, but using hand-to-hand combat in a boxing match, and also using his intelligence; as seen when he was able to knock back Kyuubei and beat her grandfather, winning the game against the Yagyuu clanSorachi Hideaki. Gintama. VIZ media, Vol. 15, Lesson 122, p. 19., when he figured out a way to get past Tosshi's human wallSorachi Hideaki. Gintama. Shueisha, Vol. 28, Lesson 241, p. 17., and when he fought with Tosshi in a boxing matchSorachi Hideaki. Gintama. Shueisha, Vol. 28, Lesson 245, p. 13.. In episode 213, he defeated Chin Pirako in a short second with a wooden sword, while Pirako had a real sword, proving he is now a skilled swordsman. Story Shinpachi would soon start working at the register in a café, but only having known the way of the sword, he made alot of mistakes. Some Amanto who were there as customers, tripped him over so he spilt Sakata Gintoki's chocolate parfait. Enraged by this, Gintoki attacked the Amanto and fled the scene, leaving his wooden sword and the blame with Shinpachi. Shinpachi followed him and they would soon encounter Tae, who brought them back to the dojou. Debt collectors then came along and took Tae with them so she could start working in an illegal flying nightclub. However, after a series of events, the nightclub crashed into the ocean, Tae was rescued by Shinpachi with help from Gintoki and the debt collectors went to jail, as stated by Gintoki in episode 3. This led Tae to give her "permission" for Shinpachi to join the Yorozuya, after which he would become a regular member, share many exploits and do various jobs with Sakata Gintoki and Kagura. Harusame Arc Gengai Arc Rengokukan Arc Memory Loss Arc Umibozu Arc Go-Ninja Arc Inugami Arc Infant Strife Arc Train Samurai Arc Benizakura Arc Mother Arc Yagyu Arc Hardboiled Detective Arc Fuyo Arc Owee Arc Hasegawa Prosecution Arc Shinsengumi Crisis Arc Ryugujo Arc Guardian Dog Arc Monkey Hunter Arc Ghost Ryokan Arc Correspondence Arc Kintaro Arc Yoshiwara in Flames Arc Yorozuya Barbers Arc Otsu Arc Tama Quest Arc Red Spider Arc Character Poll Arc Rokkaku Arc Kabukicho Stray Cat Arc Diviner Arc Santa Arc Kabukicho Four Devas Arc Jugem Arc Glasses Arc Timeskip Arc Scandal Arc Vacation Arc Love Choriss Arc Renho Arc Host Club Arc Kintama Arc Trivia *When the characters of Gintama were being made, Shinpachi was originally going to be a part of the Shinsengumi as Nagakura Shinpachi 永倉新八, who was the captain of the Shinsengumi's second unit. Instead, he was given glasses and became the one to throw the punch lines, receiving his last name from Shimura Ken 志村けん, a Japanese comedian. *Whenever Makoto, the 'Centaur' character/mascot played by Gintoki with Kagura as a corpse makes an appearance, Shinpachi is the hind quarters of the horse (for example Episode 124). *In Episode 106 of the Gintama anime he was portrayed as a horse with eye-glasses while the others were shown as warriors on horses. *Shinpachi's name contains "Hachi" which means 8, which also means infinite or glasses (he wore glasses). He also placed on 8th rank in 3 Gintama character polls. *His first draft is actually a Shinsengumi member. **Until now fans created 'Shinsengumi' version of him along with Hijikata Toushirou, Kondou Isao, and Okita Sougo. References __INDEX__ Category:Wear glasses Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Human